Bosch TCA6301UC Benvenuto B30 Thermoblock 15-Bar-Pump Digital Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

Product Description
At just the touch of a button, the Benvenuto Gourmet coffee maker grinds the beans and brews the coffee within seconds. The unique AROMASWIRL high-pressure brewing system immerses the freshly ground coffee in the ideal water temperature for optimal extraction and maximum flavor release. A frothing attachment for cappuccino, instant hot water for tea or hot chocolate adds to this amazing machine's capabilities. To top it all off, the Benvenuto automatically cleans itself when needed. Fresh, flavorful coffee, cappuccino or espresso just like they make it in the Italian cafes. The Good Housekeeping Seal Recognized for their quality manufacturing, Bosch are backed by The Good Housekeeping Seal - a two-year limited warranty.

Reasonable but not great
The Bosch Benvenuto B30 is an OK espresso maker, although expensive, and is not a particularly good machine for cappucinos. I've owned a Saeco, a Jura and now the Bosch: the Saeco made the best coffee but only lasted two years: replaced with a Jura which drove me mad with its washing, rinsing, cleaning cycle requirements, but it made good espresso and cappucino: then I changed countries and voltages so I bought the Bosch in the USA. It too has an annoying rinsing cycle, but unlike the Jura doesn't seem to rinse the coffee dispenser nozzles, which still drip dark coffee dregs after the rinsing cycle ends. And there doesn't seem to be a way to remove the klunky aluminium nozzle housing to clean them, so I expect that one day they'll clog and stay clogged. The steamer takes twenty/thirty seconds to produce steam, without a standby position for steam. (In other words, the steam wand is active as soon as the rotary switch is turned to steam symbol, which means dribbling water condensation before it finally produces steam). The rotary selector hot water position recommends the wand tip be uncovered to dispense hot water and to "foam" milk, but that the wand tip be covered (in the down) position to steam milk. I've tried both positions and found no difference in results. The handbook insists that the wand tip be dismantled (with a coin) every time it's used and all parts be washed in a dishwasher, after running a thin wire through the nozzle to get rid of any encrusted milk. I don't bother - I just run steam and water through the thing which seems to clean it OK, but wastes alot of water which is being expensively filtered by the recommended $30 filter which lasts eight weeks. The handbook warns that the Bosch can't handle oily roasted coffee beans - which unfortunately are the type of beans I like. So I have to push the beans down the chute to the grinder or else they stay put on the gentle slope of the hopper. Having done all this, the amount of water for an espresso is pre-determined by Bosch, so if you want your coffee very short (like a Napoli barrista's version) you're out of luck. The machine cost $1,200 and it should be better, but it's what I've got so I'll live with it. But I wish I'd bought another Saeco instead. Even if it only lasts a couple of years, it's worth it. The Italians know more about making great coffee than the Germans or the Swiss.

Would buy this one all over again.
I researched espresso makers and purchased the Benvenuto 30 over a year ago. Like with many products, I was full of glee by the simple format change. So here it is, a year and 2 months later and I am still enjoying this purchase. There was the initial getting to know how to achieve my preferred ratio of espresso:steamed milk, but once that was discovered, the Benvenuto 30 has been delivering that perfect l-ahhhhhh-tte every time, ever since. I now find that when I am in town, I drive on by Starbucks or Seattle's best, etc. Now, some reckon that the water reservoir is not big enough. This is not a problem that interferes with my routine. Perhaps these sweet people are making more single cups of coffee than I do --- which by the way, big Ben makes quite nicely as well. The only drawback that I see, is the length of time required to run the cleaning and descaling cycles... But cleaning and descaling can be done when it is convenient to your schedule. You do have to hang around during cleaning and descaling for a few prompts to empty the trays or add a tablet. ---minor points - 'cause it's nice it cleans itself.
Summing up....Big Ben is worth the $$. It's been 15 months. If we keep going like this, Big Ben will definitely pay for himself.

Think "Capital Investment"
A truly wonderful coffee maker. But $1,200 (what we paid)for a "coffee pot???" Is it worth it? It depends.

If you are a "StarBucks regular," like we were, then the answer's a resounding yes. We've had our B30 for 13 months. Figuring $5 a day if we'd done our usual daily "StarBucks stop," our B30 paid for itself in nine months Now, we're actually saving $ with it! (-:

For me, coffee is coffee; I drink it to wake up. But my wife is really into it and she thinks a brew from the B30 equals anything she's had in Italy.

It's really difficult to think of it being any easier. I get up and it's already turned on. I flip the switch to "double XXL coffee" and push a button. Beans are measured and ground, pressurised hot water courses through the grinds and into my cup, grounds are dumped into an internal container and it's ready to go again. I switch to "double expresso" and press the button again. That whole process takes less than 1 1/2 minutes!

It tells you when to add water, when to empty the tray containing grounds, when to change the filter and when to clean it.

What??? For 1,200 bucks you have to CLEAN "the pot?" Yup. You drop a cleaning tablet into a port and push a button. (-:

I can't begin to tell you how much easier this machine has made our morning.

UPDATE: It's been 15 months and 2,699 "brews" since we bought it. STILL works flawlessly. Again, figuring four "brews" equals $5 each morning @ Starbucks (actually, we spent more but leaving the extra $ out covers the cost of beans) we've saved $3,373 by not going to Starbucks. We,ve recouped our original $1,200, banked $1,300 for the next one (there WILL be a next one)and have $873 LEFT OVER! Is that cool, or what? (-:

Super Automatic Nirvana
The Bosch is a great machine - I owned a Jura F7 for about 18 months and finally returned it to Sur La Table (great return policy at Sur La Table by the way). The Jura was absolutely acceptable when it worked, but I think we killed it when my wife switched to decaf and started using the bypass chute every day. It started showing error messages and would refuse to work from time to time. I finally got fed up when some beans got stuck in the grinder chute and would not budge! So back it went.

ANyway, I found this machine and it has a very similar style to the Jura-Capressos (internal mechanism, same steam wand, etc.), but it makes WAY better espresso than the Juras. It is consistently stronger and richer than the Jura. SOmetimes in the Jura I would feel the need for two shots just to taste the coffee through the milk in my capuccinos. In the Bosch, one shot'll do you. I never knew what I was missing with the Jura.

I also tried the Saeco Incanto Sirius which I really liked as well, except that it made crappy soap bubble foam (why do people put up with that? have you never had good dense microfoam??). Unlike the Jura (and now the Bosch) the Steam Wand on the Saeco was not at all modifiable. See my Jura F7 review for the modification to the Jura and the Bosch to create a traditional single hole steam wand. No big deal - basically it involves screwing a Krups tip on the existing wand. Righty tighty, lefty loosey is all you need to know. Learn to use a traditional steam wand and you will NEVER be satisfied again with the crap foam that is created by any of these so called "frother aids." By the way the steam pressure on the Bosch is much stronger than the JUra - almost hard to control, but once you get the hang of it, you will be making capuccinos like an Italian barista, only without the tamper, dregs box and mess.

The only things keeping this from 5 stars are: 1) poor foam out of the box (but that applies to ALL super automatics), 2) first shot is always bad and way too cool - easily solved by running a rinse first (which is not as simple as the Jura since there is no rinse button - have to trick it into thinking you put grounds in the bypass chute), and 3) when you ask for a double, it just doubles the water - same as the Jura. Some of the Italian machines (like Saeco) actually brew two shots in succession (but as I noted above - generally one long shot is sufficient.)

By the way, bought it at Costco Online for about $1150. Costco is the way to go for so many reasons.

Accessories:

P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

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Bosch TCA6301UC Benvenuto B30 Thermoblock 15-Bar-Pump Digital Fully Automatic Espresso Machine & More...

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